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Jeffrey J. Molldrem, M.D.

Present Title & Affiliation

Primary Appointment

Chief, Section of Transplantation Immunology, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, Division of Cancer Medicine, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment

Professor (tenured), Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, Division of Cancer Medicine, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Research Interests

The long-term goal of my lab is to develop immunotherapies for leukemia and other hematological diseases through an understanding of T-cell immunity against hematopoietic progenitors.  Our central hypothesis is that T-cells target and eliminate these progenitors by recognizing determinants of self-antigens when tolerance has been reversed by aberrant self-antigen expression.  As models, we have studied myeloid leukemia and MDS and have found that CD8 lymphocytes recognized the HLA-A2-restricted PR1 peptide, derived from both P3 and NE, due to aberrant subcellular localization and over-expression.

Office Address

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
1515 Holcombe Blvd.
Unit Number: 900
Houston, TX 77030
Phone: (713) 563-3334
Fax: (713) 563-3364

Education & Training

Degree-Granting Education

1990 University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, MD, Medicine
1986 Moorhead State University, Moorhead, MN, BA, Chemistry

Postgraduate Training

7/1993-7/1996 Clinical Associate and Post-doctoral Fellow, Hematology and Oncology, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD
6/1991-6/1993 Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA

Board Certifications

11/1996 American Board of Internal Medicine, Diplomate in Hematology
9/1993 American Board of Internal Medicine, Diplomate in Internal Medicine

Experience/Service

Academic Appointments

Faculty (tenure track), UT Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences, Program in Immunology, Houston, TX, 1998-present

Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities

Program Co-leader, Cancer Center Support Grant, Basic Science Programs, Immunology, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2011-present
Program Co-Leader, Cancer Center Support Grant, Clinical/Translational Thematic Programs, Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2011-present
Associate Director, Center for Cancer Immunology Research, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 10/2003-present
Associate Medical Director, Bone Marrow Transplant Lab, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, Division of Cancer Medicine, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 1998-present

Endowed Positions

Virginia H. Cockrell Distinguished Professorship in Immunology, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation - Research, Division of Cancer Medicine, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2006-present

Honors and Awards

2009 American Society of Clinical Investigators
2007 Division of Cancer Medicine Mentor Award, Fellowship Program, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
2003 Julie and Ben Rogers Award for Excellence, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
2001 Faculty Scholar Award, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
1993 Solomon Scholars Resident Research Award, University of California Los Angeles
1990 Chugai-Upjohn Sponsored Award, American Society of Hematology
1990 Thomas J. Livermore Award for Outstanding Research in Hematology, University of Minnesota
1989 Minnesota Medical Foundation Research Award, University of Minnesota

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Original Research Articles
1. Zhang M, Sukhumalchandra P, Enyenihi AA, St John LS, Hunsucker SA, Mittendorf EA, Sergeeva A, Ruisaard K, Al-Atrache Z, Ropp PA, Jakher H, Rodriguez-Cruz T, Lizee G, Clise-Dwyer K, Lu S, Molldrem JJ, Glish GL, Armistead PM, Alatrash G. A Novel HLA-A*0201 Restricted Peptide Derived From Cathepsin G Is An Effective Immunotherapeutic Target in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Clin Cancer Res 19(1):247-57, 1/1/2013. e-Pub 11/12/2012. PMCID: PMC3537920.
2. Alatrash G, Mittendorf EA, Sergeeva A, Sukhumalchandra P, Qiao N, Zhang M, St John LS, Ruisaard K, Haugen CE, Al-Atrache Z, Jakher H, Philips AV, Ding X, Chen JQ, Wu Y, Patenia RS, Bernatchez C, Vence LM, Radvanyi LG, Hwu P, Clise-Dwyer K, Ma Q, Lu S, Molldrem JJ. Broad Cross-Presentation of the Hematopoietically Derived PR1 Antigen on Solid Tumors Leads to Susceptibility to PR1-Targeted Immunotherapy. J Immunol 189(11):5476-84, 12/1/2012. e-Pub 10/26/2012. PMCID: PMC3504175.
3. Ma Q, Li D, Nurieva R, Patenia R, Bassett R, Cao W, Alekseev AM, He H, Molldrem JJ, Kroll MH, Champlin RE, Sale GE, Afshar-Kharghan V. Reduced Graft-versus-Host Disease in C3-Deficient Mice Is Associated with Decreased Donor Th1/Th17 Differentiation. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 18(8):1174-81, 8/2012. e-Pub 6/1/2012. PMCID: PMC3437318.
4. Mittendorf EA, Alatrash G, Qiao N, Wu Y, Sukhumalchandra P, St John LS, Philips AV, Xiao H, Zhang M, Ruisaard K, Clise-Dwyer K, Lu S, Molldrem JJ. Breast cancer cell uptake of the inflammatory mediator neutrophil elastase triggers an anti-cancer adaptive immune response. Cancer Res 72(13):3153-62, 7/1/2012. e-Pub 5/7/2012. PMCID: PMC3397251.
5. Alatrash G, Ono Y, Sergeeva A, Sukhumalchandra P, Zhang M, St John LS, Yang TH, Ruisaard K, Armistead PM, Mittendorf EA, He H, Qiao N, Rodriguez-Cruz T, Liang S, Clise-Dwyer K, Wieder ED, Lizee G, Lu S, Molldrem JJ. The Role of Antigen Cross-presentation From Leukemia Blasts on Immunity to the Leukemia-associated Antigen PR1. J Immunother 35(4):309-20, 5/2012. PMCID: PMC3326226.
6. Li H, Su X, Gallegos J, Lu Y, Ji Y, Molldrem JJ, Liang S. dsPIG: a tool to predict imprinted genes from the deep sequencing of whole transcriptomes. BMC Bioinformatics 13:271, 2012. PMCID: PMC3497615.
7. Ciurea SO, Thall PF, Wang X, Wang SA, Hu Y, Cano P, Aung F, Rondon G, Molldrem JJ, Korbling M, Shpall EJ, de Lima M, Champlin RE, Fernandez-Vina M. Donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies and graft failure in matched unrelated donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Blood 118(22):5957-64, 11/2011. PMID: 21967975.
8. Staquicini FI, Cardó-Vila M, Kolonin MG, Trepel M, Edwards JK, Nunes DN, Sergeeva A, Efstathiou E, Sun J, Almeida NF, Tu SM, Botz GH, Wallace MJ, O'Connell DJ, Krajewski S, Gershenwald JE, Molldrem JJ, Flamm AL, Koivunen E, Pentz RD, Dias-Neto E, Setubal JC, Cahill DJ, Troncoso P, Do KA, Logothetis CJ, Sidman RL, Pasqualini R, Arap W. Vascular ligand-receptor mapping by direct combinatorial selection in cancer patients. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108(46):18637-42, 11/2011. PMCID: PMC3219136.
9. Sergeeva A, Alatrash G, He H, Ruisaard K, Lu S, Wygant J, McIntyre BW, Ma Q, Li D, St John L, Clise-Dwyer K, Molldrem JJ. An anti-PR1/HLA-A2 T-cell receptor-like antibody mediates complement dependent cytotoxicity against acute myeloid leukemia progenitor cells. Blood 117(16):4262-72, 4/2011. PMCID: PMC3087478.
10. Armistead PM, Liang S, Li H, Lu S, Van Bergen CA, Alatrash G, St John L, Hunsucker SA, Sarantopoulos S, Falkenburg JH, Molldrem JJ. Common Minor Histocompatibility Antigen Discovery Based upon Patient Clinical Outcomes and Genomic Data. PLoS One 6(8):e23217, 2011. PMCID: PMC3153501.
11. Ma Q, Wang C, Jones D, Quintanilla KE, Li D, Wang Y, Wieder ED, Clise-Dwyer K, Alatrash G, Mj Y, Munsell MF, Lu S, Qazilbash MH, Molldrem JJ. Adoptive transfer of PR1 cytotoxic T lymphocytes associated with reduced leukemia burden in a mouse acute myeloid leukemia xenograft model. Cytotherapy 12(8):1056-62, 12/2010. PMID: 20735170.
12. Kanodia S, Wieder E, Lu S, Talpaz M, Alatrash G, Clise-Dwyer K, Molldrem JJ. PR1-specific T cells are associated with unmaintained cytogenetic remission of chronic myelogenous leukemia after interferon withdrawal. PLoS One 5(7):e11770, 2010. PMCID: PMC2909896.
13. Sergeeva A, Ono Y, Rios R, Molldrem JJ. High titer autoantibodies to GM-CSF in patients with AML, CML, and MDS are associated with active disease. Leukemia 22(4):783-90, 4/2008. PMID: 18216869.
14. Leen AM, Myers GD, Sili U, Huls MH, Weiss H, Leung KS, Carrum G, Krance RA, Chang CC, Molldrem JJ, Gee AP, Brenner MK, Heslop HE, Rooney CM, Bollard CM.. Monoculture-derived T lymphocytes specific for multiple viruses expand and produce clinically relevant effects in immunocompromised individuals. Nature Medicine 12(10):1160-6, 10/2006. PMCID: PMC16998485.
15. Molldrem JJ, Lee PP, Kant S, Wieder E, Jiang W, Lu S, Wang C, Davis MM. Chronic myelogenous leukemia shapes host immunity by selective deletion of high-avidity leukemia-specific T cells. J Clin Invest 111(5):639-47, 3/2003. PMCID: PMC151894.
16. Kochenderfer JN, Kobayashi S, Wieder ED, Su C, Molldrem JJ. Loss of T-lymphocyte clonal dominance in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome responsive to immunosuppression. Blood 100(10):3639-45, 11/2002. PMCID: PMC12393644.
17. Molldrem JJ, Leifer E, Bahceci E, Saunthararajah Y, Rivera M, Dunbar C, Liu J, Nakamura R, Young NS, Barrett AJ. Antithymocyte globulin for treatment of the bone marrow failure associated with myelodysplastic syndromes. Ann Intern Med 137(3):156-63, 8/2002. PMCID: PMC12160363.
18. Molldrem JJ, Lee PP, Wang C, Felio K, Kantarjian HM, Champlin RE, Davis MM. Evidence that specific T lymphocytes may participate in the elimination of chronic myelogenous leukemia. Nat Med 6(9):1018-23, 9/2000. PMCID: PMC10973322.
19. Molldrem J, Dermime S, Parker K, Jiang YZ, Mavroudis D, Hensel N, Fukushima P, Barrett AJ. Targeted T-cell therapy for human leukemia: cytotoxic T lymphocytes specific for a peptide derived from proteinase 3 preferentially lyse human myeloid leukemia cells. Blood 88(7):2450-7, 10/1996. PMCID: PMC8839835.

Grant & Contract Support

Title: Leukemia Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE)
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Project PI - Basic Research
Principal Investigator: Kantarjian
Duration: 5/1/2013 - 4/30/2018
 
Title: The Impact of Active Leukemia Vaccination on T Cell Receptor Gene Expressions in Humans
Funding Source: Gabrielle's Angel Foundation
Role: Principal Investigator
Duration: 7/1/2012 - 6/30/2017
 
Title: An Anti-PR1-HLA-A2 Antibody as Novel Therapy for Myeloid Leukemia
Funding Source: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Role: Principal Investigator
Duration: 10/1/2011 - 9/30/2014
 
Title: Improving Cord Blood Transplantation (PP-4)
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Project Leader
Principal Investigator: Shpall
Duration: 9/22/2011 - 8/31/2016
 
Title: Therapy of CML, Immune Assessment Core (E)
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Co-Investigator
Principal Investigator: Champlin
Duration: 7/1/2011 - 6/30/2015
 
Title: Genome-Wide Indentification of Minor Histocompatibility Antigens
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Mentor
Principal Investigator: Liang
Duration: 3/7/2008 - 2/28/2013
 
Title: Translational Development of Novel Vaccine Therapies
Funding Source: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Role: Project Leader
Principal Investigator: Kwak
Duration: 10/1/2007 - 9/30/2012
 
Title: Translational Development of Novel Vaccine Therapies
Funding Source: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Role: Program Leader
Principal Investigator: Kwak
Duration: 10/1/2007 - 9/30/2012
 
Title: Cyclin E-Derived Peptides as Targets of T Lymphocyte Mediated Immunity Against Leukemia
Funding Source: Carl C. Anderson Sr. and Marie Jo Anderson Charitable Foundation
Role: Principal Investigator
Duration: 2006 - 2011
 
Title: Cyclin E-Derived Peptides as Targets of T Lymphocyte Mediated Immunity Against Leukemia
Funding Source: Gillson-Longenbaugh Foundation
Role: Principal Investigator
Duration: 2006 - 2011
 
Title: Cellular Immunotherapy of Cancer (RP13)
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Co-Program Leader
Principal Investigator: DePinho
Duration: 9/4/1998 - 6/30/2013
 
Title: Cellular Immunotherapy of Cancer (RP3)
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Co-Program Leader
Principal Investigator: DePinho
Duration: 9/4/1998 - 6/30/2013

Last updated: 2/14/2013